1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to vehicles and more particularly to a novel safety headrest for use in a vehicle for the prevention of injuries to occupants of a vehicle in the event of an accident, particularly to prevent injuries of the kind caused by what is commonly referred to as "whiplash" which is the sudden snapping back of the head of an occupant of a vehicle such as which occurs when a vehicle is struck in the rear by another vehicle or the like.
2. Description of the Prior Art
When a vehicle is struck in the rear by another vehicle or the like, the head of a person riding in the front vehicle which has been struck in the rear snaps backward suddenly, this placing a severe strain on the person's neck at the base of the skull and is known to frequently result in a fracture of one or more cervical vertebrae or in some other injury to the person's spinal column. This type of injury is commonly referred to as "whiplash" which is caused by the sudden snapping back of the person's head.
In an attempt to reduce the risk of whiplash, headrests of various kinds have been provided in an attempt to prevent the head from snapping back in the situation where whiplash normally occurs. However, such devices, even though they are intended to prevent injury due to whiplash, have been inadequate for one reason or another, such as lack of complete vertical and horizontal adjustment for the comfort and safe positioning relative to occupants of different physical sizes; hard to adjust; potentially hazardous as they affect the vehicle drivers' line of vision when viewing out of side and back windows to view surrounding traffic when having to maneuver in such traffic, and the like.